I know many of you, like me, are big fans of the fact. Here’s some to keep you going for a while:

I swim at between 44 and 50strokes a minute depending on how calm the sea is.

This is 3240strokes an hour and 25 920strokes on an average day.

The whole swim should be done and dusted in a mere 2 851 200strokes!

To keep this up I’ll be burning 7000-9000calories everyday. More in the cold waters early on.

The temperature in the ocean will vary on my route from 8-22degrees Celcius.

To help with reserve calories, heat and buoyancy I’ve gained 46kilos in weight since finishing my last bike ride in November 2008. Some of this is muscle but most is fat.

One kilo of fat is roughly 7700calories so at the moment I have around 350 000calories in of fat to burn on the course of the trip. The plan is to lose about a stone (14pounds) of weight a month for the first 8months.

Each day, if the weather plays ball, will comprise of two three hour swims and one two hour swim.

I’ll be swimming the whole way using front crawl and will ‘feed’ every 45minutes on an energy drink and some snacks and will be having bigger meals in between each three hour session.